SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Christian McCaffrey sauntered through the 49ers’ locker room Friday with a gold, 49ers’ helmet in his right hand, along with his new, No. 23 jersey. Rather than go straight to his locker next to George Kittle, McCaffrey spotted defenders lurking nearby, as he’s prone to do.
So McCaffrey headed directly for linebacker Dre Greenlaw and safety Talanoa Hufanga as they sat side-by-side at their lockers.
This was a re-introduction. Two Sundays ago, McCaffrey juked those defenders en route to his 50th and final touchdown for the Carolina Panthers, who lost that game 37-15, and, on Friday, officially completed his trade back to the Bay Area, where he starred at Stanford from 2014-16.
“Everyone has been so cool to me, coming up and saying hi, introducing themselves,” McCaffrey said. “I’m happy to be in a room with great players and to share the locker room with guys I’ve studied over years and watched tape on. It’s a surreal moment for me.”
The conversation that ensued between McCaffrey and his former two foes came complete with questions, answers and organic expletives from Greenlaw as they relived playing against him. McCaffrey, in a calm manner, explained to them his open-field moves in a minute tutorial.
“He’s a Stanford guy. He’s smart, man. I’m going to pick his brain,” Greenlaw said. “I won’t overwhelm just yet, but give him 36 hours and I’ll be after him. We’re best friends now.”
“Watching how he plays, he’s a very smart player,” 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said. “He gets to the right hole, he’s very smooth, and I’ve seen that at every level he’s played.”
Shanahan and general manager John Lynch have known McCaffrey, 26, seemingly all his life, and that familiarity surely made it easier for the 49ers (3-3) to send four draft picks to the Panthers, those being in the 2023 draft’s second, third and fourth rounds, plus a 2024 fifth-rounder.
Before Lynch embarked on a Pro Football Hall of Fame career as a safety, he arrived at Stanford as a quarterback, and that is where he bonded with McCaffrey’s father, Ed, who went on to enjoy his own lengthy career, including as a wide receiver on the 49ers’ last Super Bowl-winning team (1994) before joining the Denver Broncos under then-coach Mike Shanahan, Kyle’s father.
“It is weird, the connections,” Lynch said. “I remember vividly throwing balls to Eddie when I was a quarterback and he was a receiver, and I remember going to fraternity parties with Lisa and Ed when they were dating. … This is much bigger than that.”
“You try to stay as business as you can and one step at a time, but it is special,” McCaffrey said. “Being back in the Bay Area where I had so many great memories, going back to Stanford, having friends still here, and knowing guys in the locker room already, it comes full circle. It’s special and I’m happy to be here.”
Shanahan said the 49ers began mulling a trade three weeks ago, and Lynch commenced talks with the Panthers after the 49ers beat them 37-15 on Oct. 9, once the 49ers embedded themselves in West Virginia before last Sunday’s loss at Atlanta.
McCaffrey said he was a “bystander” through it all and learned his fate “5 seconds before you guys found out, and I was ecstatic.”
Shanahan said the 49ers (3-3) plan to keep McCaffrey “a little bit” and not just as a 2022 rental, seeing how his contract runs through 2025. Shanahan did not proclaim this move as the missing piece of a Super Bowl-bound puzzle, but he did acknowledge it will help their “chances go up.”
“I never look at it as one-player away. We have a chance to be real good but we’re not there yet,” Shanahan said.
Running back was arguably not the 49ers’ greatest need after injuries depleted one of the NFL’s top-ranked defenses. Lynch noted that because the 49ers have “a lot of our core locked up,” the 49ers couldn’t pass on “an opportunity for a player like this.”
Also in pursuit was the division-rival Los Angeles Rams, who’ve beaten the Niners to many a star player in recent years. Lynch did not take a victory lap other than to note how important divisional play is (the 49ers are 2-0 in NFC West games this season, including an Oct. 3 win over the Rams). “I’m sure glad he’s here and not there,” Lynch said.
Although McCaffrey missed 23 of 33 games over the 2020-21 seasons because of injuries (shoulder, ankle, thigh, hamstring), that did not scare off the 49ers’ medical staff, which originally gave him a sterling grade when he entered the 2017 draft — and eventually went No. 8 overall to the Panthers.
“Coming out of Stanford, he had a pristine health record. The last couple years have been rough, but this year, he re-established that health,” Lynch said. “I’ve been there in my own career. … Sometimes there’s ebbs and flows.”
Lynch and Shanahan compared McCaffrey to Deebo Samuel, who also offers versatility as a wide receiver and rusher, although in reverse order of their specialty.
Lynch described McCaffrey as a “perfect player” for Shanahan’s system, adding: “He brings a lot more than running back skills,” Lynch said. “He’s an incredibly accomplished receiver. He’s got a tremendous feel. He can play with speed, with power, with quickness. He can do it all.”
McCaffrey said of Shanahan: “You hear legends about how good of an offensive mind he is. To be here is exciting.”
Can he play here Sunday against the Chiefs?
Lynch called it a “tall order,” and while McCaffrey said it’s ultimately a coach’s call, he plans to learn “as much as humanly possible the next two days and get ready to play a football game.”
He rushed out to watch Friday’s walk-through practice and talk with coaches, once he passed his physical and after Lynch took him to the locker room to get his helmet, cleats and No. 23 jersey. (That number formerly was assigned to Marlon Mack, a veteran running back on the practice squad who’s switched to No. 36.)
In comparison to past 49ers’ in-season arrivals, Jimmy Garoppolo waited a month before stepping in as the starting quarterback to finish the 2017 season in 5-0 fashion. Conversely, Emmanuel Sanders caught a first-quarter touchdown pass from Garoppolo just five days after getting traded in 2019 from Denver (and helping beat McCaffrey and the Panthers 51-13 that game).
McCaffrey came “incredibly cheap” from a salary-cap standpoint, by virtue of restructuring his contract last year. The 49ers will pay him $690,000 in prorated salary this season. His contract runs through 2025, at base salaries of $11.8 million, $11.8 million and $12 million.
“I’ve obviously watched them a long time, and they have probably one of the best run games and one of the most explosives offenses in the league,” said McCaffrey, noting he hasn’t had time to ponder his long-term future with the 49ers. “You go down the roster and you look at all the guys, that’s the thing I’m most excited about: getting in the locker room and meeting the guys.”
Fullback Kyle Juszczyk didn’t meet him until Friday, but he’s admired his style and described it as: “Extremely fast, extremely aggressive, can really do everything. So I’m a big fan.”
As for sharing tips in his meeting with Greenlaw and Hufanga, McCaffrey added: “It goes both ways. It’s one of the best defenses I’ve ever faced and I’m happy to be on the right side of it now.”
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